Opening Day

Glory Fades.

And it does. Always has.

Granted, I think today, we have a small understanding of glory. Hell, glory to us is the flag of our country, the fourth-quarter touch down, or the grand-slam in the 9th. This small glory that I write today will fade, and everyday thereafter. So why do I write?

The longing for something else that is just out of reach and never around the corner as quick as I want it to be turns out to be inherent in living. It’s not an American thing; it’s a human thing. Imagine a God that creates a creature to function at it’s best when it is at home with the Creator. And, yet, that creature runs all over the humongous playroom that is this world, picking up every toy, dust ball, mud clod, flower or sunset, and, (usually other creatures), looking for that one thing, just one thing that will make him or her happy. No matter how far he travels, even if it is to the moon for a swing of the golf clubs, and a step for mankind, he still looks for the greener grass. He swears it is just on the other side of that fence...that one...over there. That’s the one...I thought. The grass is green, just like it is on this side of the fence. It wasn’t grass the creature was looking for anyway. It was something called joy or happiness. So many talk about it, so few really seem to know what it is. And those that think they do find out soon enough they are talking about the grass that is on their side of the fence.

Imagine such a God. Such a God should seem like a cruel prankster to create us for a scavenger hunt. Tons of clues, and for some reason, so few that seem to know where the hunt will end. Where will it end? God, in His fun sort of way, has made Himself the end. So when the hunt is given up, He whispers a secret like a boy who has found the white flag to capture, the last of the hidden Easter eggs, “It’s me! You ran away before I had the chance to tell you. You were so eager to get started with finding it you never once stopped to look back. What else could I do? I ran you down only to tell you...it’s me you are looking for. That joy. Those tugs for happiness, that greener grass.”

Many will throw down their scavenger gatherings in a rage and claim they were cheated from the beginning. Many will do that. They are the ones that would tell you what the prize looked like, how it should feel and what you need to do to get it. Only they were furthest from ever getting there.

Others will drop everything. They will drop the toys and the mud. Like a child on Christmas morning who has opened all the presents, but really just wants to run into daddy’s arms and give a hug. They will drop it all, run, jump, and hug. They won’t think too much about the scavenger hunt or even “winning.” They are simply happy, now, because they found what they were looking for.

That glory that does not fade this opening day. And even then I may be off.